Washington Redskins running back Alfred Morris (46) scores a touchdown in the second half in of the Washington Redskins game against the Dallas Cowboys at FedEx Field. / Geoff Burke, USA TODAY Sports

by Robert Klemko, USA TODAY Sports

by Robert Klemko, USA TODAY Sports

LANDOVER, Md. ‚?? There's hurt, there's injured, and then there's the ache that can only come from the fusion of metal, bone and December in Washington.

With an NFC East division title on the line, Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III took the field with an injured knee, which he might insist is merely hurt. Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware is injured -- his shoulder strained and his right elbow recovering from hyperextension, he wore a harness for a must-win regular season finale.

An opponent says he played uncharacteristically "tentative" for a Pro Bowler.

Redskins wide receiver Joshua Morgan is aching. He's still got a few ounces of metal in his right ankle -- seven screws and one plate to be specific ‚?? leftovers from a 2011 surgery for a gruesome ankle injury he still refuses to watch on film. And the 37 degrees gametime temp didn't help.

"When you add that cold," he says. "It's rough."

All three players, among their dozens of limping and favoring teammates, played Sunday in a 28-18 Redskins victory. One of the few men without any obvious ailments was a perpetually-smiling rookie named Alfred Morris. Described as "goofy" and the "nicest guy in the world" by teammate Darrel Young, the Redskins' Morris romped for 200 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries, picking up the slack for his injured quarterback.

But Morris' value on Sunday and beyond was perhaps most evident on a play he didn't even carry the football.

In the third quarter with the scored tied 7-7, Griffin III faked a handoff to Morris on one of the pistol option plays installed this season by coach Mike Shanahan and his son, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. The threat of Morris going right, after he had rushed for more than 100 yards already, froze Ware, the former Pro Bowler. Flat-footed and confused, Ware realized too late that Griffin III had the ball.

Griffin labored 10 yards to his left, around a block and into the end zone to take a 14-7 lead Washington wouldn't give back. So Griffin on his gimpy leg beat Ware with his busted arm.

How?

Scheme, says Redskins tight end Logan Paulsen.

"We've had games where people would literally just stand there on the fakes," Paulsen said. "Very similar to what we saw tonight. We have seen it before, but it was really nice to see players like Ware be so tentative, which is so unusual for him.

"It takes them out of how they normally play. It was an awesome thing."

Or, says center Will Montgomery, "maybe he just strolled in there because there was no one around."

Some Redskins are more hesitant than Paulsen to draw conclusions and lessons from an offensive manhandling of the Cowboys. Others are more than happy to look at the big picture.

Across the locker room from where Montgomery sat, outside linebacker Brian Orakpo tried on his black NFC East champions hat. He's been on the injured reserve since tearing his left pectoral muscle in Week 2. Orakpo was drafted by Washington in 2009, a 4-12 season. Then came 6-10, then 5-11, and now, 10-6.

"What were we 4-12? 6-10? 5-11?" Orakpo asked aloud as he left the locker room. "And now we're here‚?¶ I can't believe I'm missing this!"

Washington (10-6) hosts Seattle (11-5) on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET after claiming the NFC East crown on the final night of the 2012 regular season. Sunday's win means Washington's first division title since 1999, a feat which a few players admitted seemed improbable when the team was sitting at 3-6 this season. They dressed quietly in this same locker room two months ago, as coach Mike Shanahan told reporters each player was being "evaluated" for next season.

A white flag or a kick in the butt?

The meaning of Shanahan's words were debated at length in the media. The team responded by winning seven games in a row: vs. Philadelphia, at Dallas, vs. New York and Baltimore, at Cleveland and Philadelphia, and finally vs. the rival Cowboys, in front of 82,845 at FedEx Field.

"It's an amazing feeling," said Paulsen, the 25-year-old whom the Redskins claimed from the great undrafted in 2010. "It's kind of unbelievable."

Yet Morgan, 27, knew this feeling from his days in San Francisco. He was on the roster from 2008 to 2011, as the 49ers emerged from an NFC West also-ran to the NFC Championship game. And when he got to Washington, he recognized that all the same ingredients were here.

Even at 3-6, he believed the Redskins could and would arrive in the playoffs this season.

"I thought we could be here, that this was realistic," he says. "I just had so much faith because I had been telling everybody since OTAs this is the same type of vibe we had in San Francisco. We've got the same type of talent, same type of chemistry, same type of character.

"Now everybody's starting to believe me."

Finally sure of their place in the postseason, Washington will play its first playoff game since 2007 without several players once thought to have been essential to success in 2012. Orakpo won't play until next season. Ditto for defensive end Adam Carriker (torn quad) and tight end Fred Davis (torn Achilles). In addition, the Redskins defensive backfield and recently the offensive line have been hit hard by more minor injuries.

One of the only players who hasn't missed a beat is Morris.

A cupcake aficionado with a permanent smile, the pudgy Morris exploited cutback lane after cutback lane on Sunday, waltzing into the end zone with the underwhelming 4.64-40 yard dash speed that probably made him a late-round pick in April.

Asked if other teams missed what the Redskins saw in Morris, Mike Shanahan admitted last week: "Well, to be honest with you, we took him in the sixth round. So, we are not that smart either."

Morris, 24, wearing purple cloth shoes, white slacks and a purple dress shirt, bragged Sunday that he was ready to take 33 more carries on Monday if he had to.

"If we had to play tomorrow," he said. "I'd be ready to go."

And maybe he could. Maybe Morris is impervious to the famed rookie wall. But the odds are against him having too many seasons like this one, in which he set the Redskins franchise record with 1,613 rushing yards. A lot of hits await; hundreds of knocks on the head, and lunges at his ankles.

Here's hoping he never experiences an injury like the one Morgan suffered last October, in the fourth quarter of a 48-3 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, no less. He vowed never to watch the replay of his right foot buckling, and his ankle snapping underneath him, but football intervened there, too.

Earlier this season, Washington's receivers were watching film on the Buccaneers defense, then that painful play flashed across the screen for Morgan to relive. Coaches say its inclusion was unintentional. Morgan says it made him ill.

Now he's counting the days until those screws and that plate get taken out.

"I can't wait," he says at his locker, standing awkwardly as he pulls a t-shirt over his head. "They come out right after the season.

"So, right after we win this Super Bowl and get back from New Orleans."